The Johnson City Press and Kingsport Times News online holiday Bid & Buy Gift Card Auction, the largest locally produced online auction ever offered in the Tri-Cities region, is up and available for preview at the sister newspapers’ websites.

Bidding on 275 featured gift items offered by 71 participating retailers at reserve prices as low as 50 percent of the products’ retail value will begin Nov. 24.

The bidding will continue through Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year that falls this year on Dec. 2. Winning bids will be determined and the winners notified on Dec. 3.

“It’s a quality online auction experience that’s new to the Tri-Cities,” Bret Jacomet, director of digital sales for the NET Media Group, said.

“It’s something that’s been run successfully in other parts of the country so we decided to partner with established, quality, local vendors to bring it here to the local market.

“It’s a great way to buy local products and services with the excitement of an auction, especially for anyone whose looking for that special deal.”

For holiday shopping the timing is perfect, Jacomet said. “With Black Friday and Cyber Monday both inside that window for bidding, if you’re looking for a just right gift, you can find it, bid on it and win it all from the comfort of your own home.”

The featured products include a little bit of everything. There are Johnson City Cardinals ticket packages, dining and entertainment packages, travel and accommodations packages, stay-cations, vacations and an abundance of gift certificates with which the winners can visit their favorite retailers and buy whatever they want.

The product categories include clothing and accessories, furniture and appliances, health and wellness, home and garden, automotive, sports, fitness and more.

“There’s something for everyone,” Jacomet said.

“It’s about local vendors. It’s put on by local companies. It’s fun. It’s convenient. Everything starts at $1. And depending on how the bidding goes, it may be possible to buy what you want at half the actual price of a lot of these products.”

For a look at what’s up for bid, visit www.johnsoncitypress.com or www.timesnews.net and click on the Bid & Buy icon in the right-hand rail of the newspapers’ home pages.